The Lion King: The Snow Lands
by Harvest-M00n
Summary: Simba has run away from the Pride lands after "killing" Mufasa, but he hasn't ran into the desert...instead he's found somewhere covered in snow!
1. The Snow Land

Hi thanks for clicking on this!!! I hope you like it please read/review…it's completely random so you know…ok well enjoy!!! Oh btw I don't own the lion king or any of the characters, blah blah blah…

Imagine after escaping the hyenas and running into the desert and being rescued by Timon and Pumbaa… well, imagine instead of running into the desert, Simba ran into a world of snow!

xxx

Simba shivered. How had he got here? One minute he'd been running through grass and now everything was covered in this weird white stuff.

He padded about in it. "What is this stuff?" he said out loud, pushing some about with one of his paws. It felt cold and wet. Simba pushed his nose into it, trying to see what it smelt like, and coughed in surprise as it went up his nostrils. "Oh!" He shook his head, blowing to get it out. It was freezing! He had to get away from here!

As he turned to go, though, he heard a giggle from somewhere in the bushes. "Is…someone there?" he said, a paw and an eyebrow raised. He peered into the white covered bush closest to him. He could see a pair of bright blue eyes staring up at him under the bush. Whoever it was, they looked frightened.

"Hey, come on out," said Simba cockily, peering down and grinning. "It's ok, I won't hurt you."

The eyes disappeared a minute- and then something sprang out at him, over the top of the bush, and grabbed hold of him, rolling him over and over in the white stuff. Simba gasped as they seemed to sink and be buried…how would they get out now?!?

He kicked and forced the attacker off him. "Ow!" she squeaked, and let go, rubbing her stomach. "What did you do that for? I was only playing!"

"We're buried!" cried Simba, pawing at the walls of the white tomb. The attacker rolled her eyes at him. "We're not buried, dummy, it's just snow!"

She shovelled her way under the 'snow', and a moment later, she was looking down at him from above. Simba scowled.

"I can do that, too!" he nuzzled under it, and coughed as it enveloped him like a cold blanket. Before he could panic the girl had dug through it aswell and pulled him out.

"I think you should say sorry for kicking me," she said.

Simba frowned. Why should he? Still, he did feel a bit mean. "Alright, I'm sorry. What's your name?"

The weird looking girl blinked her big blue eyes at him and smiled. "I'm Sodona. What are you called?"

"I'm Simba," said Simba, looking her up and down. She was a bit like a lion, but with a cheetah's patterns- in grey. Her fur was thick and downy, and she swished her long tail about a lot.

"Why do you look like that?" he demanded. "What are you?"

She rolled over onto her back in the snow, scooping a pawful up. "Well, what are you?"

"I asked you first," said Simba, getting annoyed.

"So?" she teased.

"So you should tell me!"

"Why are you all…yellow?" she wrinkled her nose at him, turning back onto her belly and wriggling towards him.

"I'm not yellow, I'm golden!" he said indignantly. "Now tell me what you are, or else!"

She giggled. "Or else what, golden boy?"

He dived on her, and they rolled over and over into the snow giggling and laughing.

"I'm a snow leopard," she told him when they'd finished. "So what are you?"

"I'm a lion." said Simba proudly. "I'm a prince lion."

Then he remembered and bent his head in shame. Sodona dived underneath him and rolled on to her back, ending up underneath him. Her face was just inches from his!

"Yuck!" cried Simba, jumping away from her in disgust. "Did you just try to kiss me or something? That's gross!"

Sodona sighed, rolling her eyes. "Boys are so immature. But you're still cute." She slid in front of him, swishing her tail over his back. He backed away from her, not looking happy at this.

"Awww, c'mon. I don't bite! And the white stuffs just snow," she purred.

"I know," he said, pushing her away with a paw. "You told me. And if you bit me, I'd bite you back, so there." He didn't bother to add she was a little bigger than him aswell.

"Ooh, so, a prince?" she said, ignoring him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I was, anyway. I was going to be a King but then…I don't want to talk about it."

Sodona didn't press him. "My mum sometimes calls me a princess. She says she'll do anything to protect me because there are nasty animals here aswell."

"What's your mum called?" asked Simba. Then he thought about it. "Nasty animals? What like?"

Sodona nuzzled up to him. "Well, my mother is called Jakatta, and of course there are nasty animals. They want to eat us. But we eat animals, too. Snow hares and snow foxes."

"Snow hares? Snow foxes? What are they?" Simba didn't have a clue what a regular hare or fox was.

"Food, stupid," laughed Sodona. She pushed him over. "Do you want to come and see where I live or do you have to go home?"

Simba sank down into the snow in shame. "No. I can't ever go back."

She didn't understand. "Oh, goody! That means you can stay here with me."

"No, it doesn't. I don't know where I'll go…but anywhere but here. It's all cold."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, go then. But how will you find your way around without someone to look out for you?"

That made him angry. "I can look out for myself!"

She laughed. "You didn't even know what a snow hare was a minute ago. You didn't even know what _snow _was!"

He pounced on her again. "Okay, okay. Can I stay with you? Just for tonight?"

Sodona smiled and purred. "You can stay for longer than that, if you want."

"No. Just for tonight. Then I'll go…somewhere else."

She raised an eyebrow. "Whatever. Come on then, _Simba. _There's a snowstorm on the way, so we'd better be quick!"


	2. Sodona's Home

Hi and this is chapter two of The Lion King: The Snow lands! You've probably already read chapter one so if you liked that then you'll like this…I hope. Sorry for the corny title, btw. Oh and no, I don't own any of the lion king characters or anything apart from Sodona, and I got inspired by her from this picture I randomly saw on the web.

xxx

Simba found it very hard following Sodona through this snowy world. She seemed to bound everywhere- he struggled at just one step. How would he even make it through one day here?

Eventually though Sodona slowed down and, one paw raised, looked around, sniffing the air. "You still following?" she called down at him from the top of the hill.

"Yes-" Simba broke off as he sank into the snow and got a mouthful of the horrible wet stuff, which he spat out- "No thanks to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, you should learn to be quicker, shouldn't you?" She ran down the hill and grabbed him, pulling him up and out of the drift. "We're nearly there now anyway. Come on!"

Without warning she set off again. Simba groaned. How was it possible to go so fast?

She looked up to a large cave up on the mountainside, surrounded by weird looking trees and strange white birds.

"Sodona!" he called as she scrambled up the mountain. "W-wait!"

Surprisingly, she did, and rolled over, yawning. "Fine. I'll wait for you, Simba."

When he reached the rock she was lying on, they both together scrambled up to the big cave. Simba wondered what was inside. What if her family didn't like him?

He was surprised that the inside of the cave was very warm. Other, bigger versions of Sodona were lolling about within-chatting and laughing, some dozing and some eating. A couple of cubs were playing tug-of-war with something over at the other side. It was a very big, wide and long cave. Simba realised it reminded him of Pride Rock- his home… where he could never go back.

Sodona encouraged him forwards. "C'mon. Let's go. I don't want to hang about there all day, Simba."

He crept forwards, feeling very self conscious, his ears low. It was hardly a few seconds before a very big snow leopard jumped over to see what was going on.

"Sodona, who is this?" he said, his deep voice rumbling, his eyes flashing.

Sodona looked unbothered. "He's my new friend, Uncle Rijin. Can he stay with us tonight?"

The big snow leopard glared down at Simba. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Simba," he stammered, his ears down flat. "Sodona s-said I could stay the n-night. I h-haven't got anywhere else to go…"

Rijin stared down at the cub. He wasn't as big as Mufasa had been but there were real muscles in his lean body.

"Wilfur!" he called loudly, turning his head. An older snow leopard trotted across to see what was going on.

"Yes?" she croaked, peering at Simba.

"He wants to stay with us." Sodona prodded him. "He can, can't he, Wilfur? Please?"

Wilfur closed her eyes, and seemed deep in thought. She gasped, and then turned to Rijin, looking concerned, but nodding.

"Yes. He's safe. He won't hurt anyone."

Rijin narrowed his eyes. "Very well, then. You can stay…for tonight."

Him and Wilfur trotted off together.

"That's it?" said Simba, relief washing through him. "I can stay just like that?"

Sodona looked at him curiously. "Er, yeah? Isn't it obvious? Now come on. Let's go and play somewhere."

Simba followed her as they ran over to a group of other cubs, including the ones playing tug-of-war.

"Look, everyone!" said Sodona loudly, and Simba winced. "This is Prince Simba. He's staying with us tonight."

"_Prince _Simba?" sniggered one cub. He was dark with a black tuft of hair between his ears. "What a stupid name. Simba."

"What's wrong with my name?" scowled Simba, stepping forwards. The snow leopards might be bigger than him, at least for now, but he was probably stronger than him, especially on solid ground.

"I'm just saying it's stupid. And how are you prince?"

"Cause my dad's the king," retorted Simba, ignoring the pain that washed through him. "And my mum's queen, that's why."

The nasty cub and his friends chortled. "What are you? Your coats a weird colour. Is it mouldy? Ewww, watch out, he's mouldy!"

Simba growled and dived on the cub, easily pinning him down. The cub squealed and pushed up but Simba was angry and kept hold of him.

"Ruben!" A female cub pounced on Simba. "Get off him, mouldy!"

Sodona hissed and dived on her, pulling her off Simba. Ruben, the nasty cub, tried to swipe him but Simba dodged and head butted him, then turned to Sodona, who was fighting with the pale cub with green eyes.

Simba pulled her off his new friend and shoved her into Ruben. "Tilli!" he growled, pushing her away. He snarled at Simba, then said to his friends, "Come on, let's go. We don't want to play with those two anyway, right?"

A couple of others nodded, following Ruben and Tilli, but the others crowded around Simba admiringly.

"How did you do that?" a little boy exclaimed. "That was amazing! You just went boom- and Ruben went flying!"

Simba smiled. "I learnt it when I was a cub. Don't you learn to fight here?"

Another cub shook his head. "Only when we're older. You have to run away here, so we learn to run fast and grow up quickly. You couldn't fight something like a bear, could you?"

"A bear?" said Simba, confused. "What's that?"

The cubs looked incredulous. "You're not from round here, are you?" said an extremely pretty leopard, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "My names Irena. Do you want me to tell you what a bear is?"

Sodona scowled. "I can tell him, thanks." She rubbed her nose against his cheek, pushing up against him. "You're my hero, Simba."

Simba backed away. The little boy leopard cubs made icky noises and ran off to play tag, but Irena stayed where she was.

"Sodona, you're so immature. Simba, do you want to come with me? We can get something to eat if you like." She stalked past him, waving her tail, but Simba shook his head.

"I'm ok, thanks. In fact…I would like something to eat." He turned to Sodona. "Let's get some food, shall we?"

Sodona smiled at him, showing her teeth, and led Simba to the food pile, sticking her tongue out at an annoyed Irena who watched them leave.

But she wasn't going to give up that easily. Irena was going to win Simba over in the end…


	3. Snow Food

Hi and this is the third chapter of the lion king…and btw, yes I promise the story is original- I haven't stolen it from anywhere, but I was inspired by some fan art drew by Sarafina! But I only saw the picture- I gave Sodona her personality/family myself…oh and no I don't own the lion king…okay enjoy!

xxx

Simba looked cautiously at the food that lay in a pile in front of him. He didn't recognise any of it, and it didn't look very nice anyway.

"Do you really eat this stuff?" he asked, pawing at it.

Sodona blinked at him. "Of course!" she said. "This is the nicest food in the world. What sort of things do you eat?"

Simba shook his head. "Err…let's just eat."

He didn't want to think about his home. He just wanted to forget everything.

Sodona picked out a big hind leg of something and dragged it away from the pile. It reminded Simba a little of antelope. He hoped it at least tasted like it.

She pulled the leg into a space with no one nearby, and let it drop.

"What is it?" Simba asked, raising his eyebrow. "Is it like…snow antelope?"

Sodona giggled. "Antelope? What's one of those?"

"An antelope? How can you not know what a…wait, if it's not antelope then what is it?"

She cocked her head on one side and looked at him. "It's a moose. And I've never heard of antelope. Is it something _you _eat, Simba?"

"Yes. And zebra. We eat all kinds of things. Why don't you call it snow moose?"

Sodona shrugged, pulling a mouthful of meat off the thigh. "I don't know. It just is." She swallowed, and waved her paw at it. "Try some, it's nice!"

Simba approached it warily. "Uh…ok." He sniffed it. It smelt strange and unfamiliar. Opening his jaws he sank his teeth in and pulled a chunk of the cold, chewy meat. He chewed and chewed and chewed. It didn't taste particularly unpleasant but it wasn't very nice either.

He forced it down.

"What do you think?" asked Sodona, budging closer to him.

Simba twitched his whiskers. "It's so chewy, though!"

"Chewy?" she pulled a face. "It's nice, how can you not like it?"

"I didn't say that," he protested. "But I don't know how you can eat that all the time. I'd get bored of chewing it."

"You must have weak teeth, then," said Sodona, sitting right next to him. "But it's alright. I still like you."

"I don't know whether that's a good thing…" muttered Simba teasingly.

She pushed him over and seized another mouthful of the moose. Simba elbowed his way over and, sighing, pulled off some more. It was only for one night, at least.

When they'd finished eating-Simba far happier about this than Sodona, who licked her lips, hungry for more- Sodona kicked the bone away and yawned loudly.

"Are you tired? Already?" asked Simba incredulously. "Aren't we going to play outside or something?"

"Outside? At this time? I told you, there's going to be a snow storm tonight. And even if there wasn't, it'll be dark out by now."

"But it's early!" he said, padding a step closer to her.

She frowned. "No, it's not!"

"Huh. Where I come from, we wouldn't go to bed for hours." Simba raised a paw, swishing his tail playfully. Sodona flicked hers in annoyance.

"Well, at least I'm not dumb enough to not know what snow is."

Simba sighed. It looked like she wasn't going to be forgetting that in a hurry. Then he raised his head again, grinning and frowning at the same time.

"At least I'm not dumb enough not to know what an antelope is."

Sodona licked one of her forepaws as though she couldn't care less. "Well, at least I'm not dumb enough not to know what a moose is."

"Well…uh…" Simba flattened his ears and lost his grin as he realised he didn't know what else to say. Instead, he pounced on her playfully. She squeaked and pushed him away, giggling, and then jumped on him instead, her weight just about pushing him down.

"Get off," said Simba, struggling below her.

"Say I won!"

"Okay okay, you won!"

Sodona laughed to herself, bobbing her head. "I always win."

She touched noses with him and then leaped off him, springing into a corner.

"Don't you sleep with your mum?" said Simba, climbing to his feet and licking his shoulder which felt a little bruised from where she'd leaped on him.

"My mum? She's not here."

"Then where is she?" asked Simba, confused. He didn't think he'd ever slept without his mother and father nearby. Then he winced.

"She's up in the sky," said Sodona casually, swishing her tail. "She died a few months ago, when I was only little. But if I listen hard enough, I can still hear her."

"She's…dead?" asked Simba, shock making him raise his head from licking his shoulder.

Sodona nodded, still padding about trying to find a good place to make a bed. "But it doesn't matter because she still loves me. And on a full moon, when the stars are out…the one twinkling the most is her."

Simba blinked. "I was taught something like that, too."

"Really? What do you mean, like?"

"It…it doesn't matter. You know what, I'm tired too. Can we just go to sleep?" he asked hurriedly. His and Sodona's eyes met. She looked curious, but she saw the reluctance in his amber eyes and padded some more ground.

"This is comfy enough. Let's sleep here."

"Err…I'll sleep over here," said Simba, settling down about a tail length away from her.

Sodona said nothing to him- she was too busy looking over at a further back part of the cave, where Irena was smoothing down her fur and gazing at Simba, ignoring the talking of the other snow leopard cubs she was with. Ruben and Tilli were part of the group, but Simba didn't care. He'd shown them who was boss here!

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, and he was halfway there when he felt someone nuzzling up to him. He opened one eye, raising his head a little, and saw Sodona curling up next him, swishing her tail. Her eyes were closed and their was a smile on her face.

Simba groaned to himself. _Girls, _he thought to himself, but didn't bother pushing her away or moving. After all, it was a cold night.


	4. Remembering

Hi and this is yet another chapter in my fan fic inspired, but not stolen from (I promise) a piece of fan artwork drawn by Sarafina. I didn't steal off her, and although the little snow leopard in the pictures she's drawn gave my the idea for Sodona, I didn't take her name/personality from Sarafina and stick them in my own story. It's original and I wrote it myself!!!

And also, thankyou to everyone who's reviewing and reading it- I appreciate all of them. Please enjoy this chapter too!

xxx

Simba awoke with a yawn and stretched his front paws, baring his teeth. Beside him he could feel the rise and fall as Sodona purred softly in whatever dream she was having. He blinked and rolled away from her, looking around the cave. All the snow leopards were asleep, snoring softly. How could they sleep for so long?

He padded to the edge of the cave and looked out. It was only just dawn here- the sky was pale purple, the last few stars fading away. Simba stared up at them, remembering what his father had told him: "The great kings of the past watch down on us from these stars…"

Simba shook his head, grief washing over him. Turning back, he wondered whether to simply leave right now, but he decided not to- he may as well eat some more food to get his strength up. And where would he go then anyway?

He slumped down, about a tail length away from Sodona, who was still sleeping soundly. He'd never get back to sleep now- back at home he'd have been up and playing already. There it would already be morning, though. Simba looked down, his ears flat in sadness. What he wouldn't give to see his old friends again- especially Nala, and his mother. If only he could go back there.

He must have managed to doze off, because the next thing he knew the snow leopards were beginning to wake up, licking their lips and stretching their paws. Simba wondered what they did in a day. Did they go hunting every day or every other day? When would Sodona and the other snow leopards learn to hunt themselves? He'd already begun to learn how to catch small animals, but he still had a long way to go before he'd be able to hunt something bigger, like antelope or zebra. Not like there was anything like that round here anyway.

Sodona crept over to him silently, and interrupted his thoughts with a lick on the top of his head, making him jump.

"Hey!" he said, standing up and nudging her away.

She sat on her haunches and smiled at him, her head cocked to one side, tail swishing playfully. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No," said Simba forcefully. "I've been awake since way before you. I was up when the sun was just rising!"

Sodona laughed. "Yeah, right!" She stood up and padded towards him as he slumped down to wash his paws.

"I was!" he insisted, scowling at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Alright then, has that snowstorm been?"

That question caught him off guard. "What? Snowstorm?" Then he remembered what she'd told him yesterday. "How should I know? I'm not from round here."

She laughed in a superior way. "Exactly. You don't know 'coz you weren't up early."

Simba grinned, narrowing his eyes, and batted at her with a paw. She reared up on her hind legs and easily deflected the blow, then sank back down and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "It doesn't matter anyway. Shall we go out to play, Simba?"

"Err…okay. But I've got to have a wash first," he added reluctantly, feeling responsible for himself.

"Yeah. Let the little prince wash himself, Sodona," came an unwanted voice nearby. Simba turned, scowling, as Ruben stepped closer, followed by Tilli and his other friends. Sodona stood up, swishing her tail from side to side.

"Go away, Ruben. You don't want Simba to beat you up again, do you?" she snapped.

"Ha," sneered Ruben, glancing at all his friends, also swishing their long tails. "He couldn't take all of us."

"Bet he could," retorted Sodona, edging closer to Simba.

"Couldn't."

"Could."

"Oh, all of you are so childish," purred Irena, her pale coat smooth and her eyes gleaming. "There's nothing wrong with being clean. And Simba has such a beautiful coat…" She looked at him meaningfully, ignoring his unhappy scowl.

Ruben blinked at her, and Simba got the feeling that even though him and Tilli seemed more or less a couple, he still liked Irena. Before Sodona could snarl at the pretty leopard, Tilli spoke.

"Get lost, Irena. None of us like you." She flicked her head back proudly. "Right, Ruben?"

"Hmph. Not all of us are as immature as _you. _I'm not going to sink to your level because I'm bigger than that. So get lost yourself," she added as an afterthought.

"Or else what?" growled Tilli, bending down in a crouch.

Irena bared her teeth. "Or else I'll make you."

"Go on, then! I'll bite you so badly that…that you'll bleed!" snapped Tilli, her claws protruding.

Irena crouched down aswell, her own claws out. Simba nodded to Sodona, who nodded and took the hint. The two of them scarpered, leaving the others to watch the fight between the girls.

They reached the edge of the cave laughing. "Stupid Irena," giggled Sodona. "Stupid Tilli."

"Stupid Ruben," put in Simba. He didn't like that cub one bit, and if he tried anything like that again, he'd give him what for.

"I know. I don't like any of them." _Irena especially, _she thought to herself, and cuddled up to Simba, ducking under his chin and circling him, her body huddling close to his. He jumped away, looking and feeling annoyed.

"I really wish you'd stop invading my personal space," he grumbled, one paw held up in case he had to push her away. Sodona sagged for a minute, but then grinned again.

"Come on, let's go and play!" she said, scampering around him.

But Simba was thinking again. It had been fun here and he liked Sodona (though clearly not as much as she liked him) but he couldn't stay here forever. _Why not? _asked a little voice in the back of his mind, but he ignored it. _Because I don't deserve them. Not after what I've done. _

Simba shivered at the memory of his father's death. Sodona nudged him with her forepaw. "What's wrong?"

He turned to meet her blue eyed gaze. She looked anxious and concerned. Suddenly, Simba felt as though he'd known her his whole life. Surely he could play with her just once before he left to…wherever?

"Um, nothing," he said hastily, standing up. "Come on, let's go and play."

Sodona peered her head out of the cave, sniffing, though Simba couldn't understand why.

"It did snow last night," she said, blinking. "A lot. Look how thick the snow is now!"

Simba peered out aswell. He had to look quite hard before he realised the trees seemed quite a lot shorter than they had yesterday.

"So, snow falls from the sky like rain?" he said, stepping out and feeling anticipation course through him.

Sodona nodded. "It doesn't rain much here, though. Snow is frozen rain."

"Really?" he suddenly didn't feel as intimidated by the thought of sinking into that white stuff out there. He pounded out of the cave, leaping down the rocks as fast as he could. "Race ya to the bottom!" he called over his shoulder.

"Simba!" cried Sodona, diving after him. "Be careful! Sometimes the rocks are covered with ic-"

Suddenly, Simba's paws seemed to skid out from underneath him, and he was sent flying into the air yelling. He crashed into the rocks twice on his way down, which hurt quite a lot even thought they were covered in snow, and then at the bottom he sank into the snow, his ears ringing.

Sodona landed neatly beside him, peering down. He tried to get up, placing a paw over his head and wondering why the world was spinning.

"Are you okay?" asked Sodona, nudging him with her nose.

"I…I think so," groaned Simba, clambering out of the snow and shaking his head.

Sodona licked his cheek. "Good. Come on, I want to play!"

She bounded away laughing. Simba steadied himself and leaped after her, also laughing. He just about managed to catch up with them and pounce on her back, knocking her to the floor. She rolled over and over in the snow, so he felt dizzy and loosened his grip. Sodona wrenched free of his grasp and batted him over with one paw.

Simba lay on his back in the snow, laughing happily. Sodona stood over him, grinning triumphantly, and scooped a pawful of snow into his face.

"Hey!" gasped Simba through the cold. "I'll get you for…for that!"

"Come on then!" she giggled, jumping away, and half crouched, her tail swishing cheekily.

They carried on playing until they were both completely tired out, and then they collapsed on the snow together, panting. The sun was high in the sky now, but it didn't offer much heat, and Simba was still a little cold.

He remembered that he couldn't stay with his new friend and that he had to leave, and sadness enveloped him again. That little voice in his head spoke to him again: _Don't go! You can stay here. Sodona likes you, that Irena girl likes you…you can start again here!_

_No, I can't, _he thought sadly, licking his chest. _I don't deserve these leopards. I don't deserve _anyone. _Not after what I did…_

"Sodona…" Simba couldn't meet her eyes. "I-I can't stay here."

She'd been trying to wash her tail, and now she looked up, her eyes wide. "What?"

"I don't belong here," he muttered.

She jumped up, her eyes even wider. "Yes you do! Simba! You can stay here forever, I know you can!"

He shook his head. "No, I can't, Sodona."

"Why not?" she walked in front of him, so he turned sideways slightly.

"I did something bad…"

"What? What did you do?"

"I…" should he tell her?

"I don't want to talk about it. Something really bad that I can't change. No one can. But I don't deserve to live with you."

He got up to begin his journey. "Goodbye, Sodona. I'll miss you…"

"Don't go! Please, Simba!" she begged. "It can't have been that bad, whatever you did. What will all my friends think?"

"You shouldn't care about them. I have to go." He began to pad away.

Sodona paused, looking unsure. "Simba…"

But her friend shook his head, then broke into a run. She sniffed hard, ignoring the tears at the back of her eyes, and began to trail home alone.

Simba turned his head once, just to get one last look at her before he left her, but she'd already gone.


	5. The Monster

Hi again, this is chapter 5 of The Snow Lands. I felt so sad writing the last bits of the last chapter, so I had to write the next one straight away!!! I don't own the lion king or any of the characters, and Sodona was inspired (but not stolen) by a picture I saw, drawn by fan artist Sarafina. You can find it somewhere on the web, if you look for it. Just google (images) "Simba in the snow." Okay, I've finished rambling on for now. Please enjoy!

xxx

Sodona's eyes were filled and her heart heavy. She'd really liked Simba, more than she'd ever liked any snow leopard before. And she'd been sure he liked her back, and that somehow he'd stay with her big family forever and ever…

She wasn't really looking where she was going, and trailed slowly home, going in circles a few times. She sighed out loud, and then, out of nowhere-she was sure it had simply appeared- she heard a terrifying roar, and turned to see a huge grizzly bear looming over her, teeth glinting.

Sodona's ears and tail went flat as her jaw dropped and the bear swung at her. Only her quick reflexes saved her- she leaped out of the way a split second before the paw could smash her open. She could hear someone screaming at the top of their lungs, which was very distracting, until she realised it was her.

Simba jumped as he heard someone screaming in the distance- he whirled round. "Sodona," he whispered out loud. He remembered his father's words- "being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble"- but this wasn't looking for trouble, this was saving his friend from whatever it was attacking her.

In a split second he was racing to where he could hear the screeching, and gasped when he saw the hairy brown thing swiping and roaring at his friend as she dodged out of the way, unable to escape because of the sheer size of it.

Simba ran towards the big boulder closest to the monster, and skittered up it, jumping at the thing's face with his sharp claws outstretched. The monster turned to him, its breath smoking the air, but before it could react Simba had sunken his claws into its face, slicing it's cheeks open.

The huge monster roared and rolled backwards, making Simba yell and jump away, rolling into the snow. The thing was up in an instant, bleeding and its eyes glittering with fury. Sodona sank her teeth into its hind leg, braver now she'd had time to recover, and as the monster turned to swipe at her, Simba fastened his jaws around its wrist.

The thing, however, was quicker to act this time, and lunged forward at its own arm to bite Simba in two. He let go and crashed into the boulder, feeling his already bruised head crack against a sharp corner of it. Spots exploded in front of his eyes, and he prepared to be smashed to smithereens by the monster, but then he heard several other growls and snarls from all around him.

Sodona nearly passed out with relief as she saw her Uncle Rijin, Wilfur and all the other adult members of her family surround the grizzly, their own tails swinging, ready for a fight. The bear fell on to all fours, its jaws open, bellowing to try to scare them off, but it didn't work.

The leopards began to edge closer in, dropping to low crouches, getting ready to attack the creature. Realising it was out numbered, already bleeding, and in great danger of being savaged, the bear turned and ran clumsily away as fast as it could.

Bakita, one of the mothers in the group and Sodona's mother Jakatta's cousin, hurried to Sodona to see if she was wounded. Simba struggled to his feet to see Rijin approaching him. He peered up at the stern looking leopard, cowering before him. Was he in trouble?

But instead of growling or chasing the cub away from his family, Rijin bent his head down to Simba's level. "You are a very brave lion cub," he said quietly. "Not many snow leopards yours and Sodona's age would have the courage to do that, and without you we might not have got here in time to help my niece. Thankyou, Simba."

"Err…" Simba struggled for words. He was very surprised to be praised for attacking the monster, so he just dipped his head respectfully, and smiled up at Rijin. Then he said, "What _was _that thing?"

Sodona's uncle tipped his head to one side. "You don't have bears where you come from?"

"A bear?" Simba tried the new word out. It sounded funny.

"Yes, a grizzly bear. That one must have been very hungry to attack a snow leopard cub. They're normally quite harmless, and eat fish from the river a few miles down from here. But it's taking a long time for it to thaw this year. We must be more careful with our patrols from now on."

"Patrols? I thought only the king- I mean the leader and his closest friends went on patrol."

Rijin laughed, but Simba couldn't see anything funny in what he'd just said. "No, not here. Everyone old enough takes it turn to go in a small group to make sure the area is clear."

"Of bears?"

"Of anything that could harm us. Bears, rival families…occasionally even strange, two legged animals come here, though they rarely try to hurt us."

"Two legged animals? Wow. This place is strange," said Simba, looking at the surroundings. He'd not really listened to Sodona when they'd fist met, when she'd told him "there are nasty animals here too. They want to eat us." Now he saw this white world in a different light: amidst all the fun, there was danger here too, just like back at his old home.

Sodona turned to look at him just as he turned to glance at her. She didn't smile but she didn't scowl- she just looked wide eyed, expecting. He knew exactly what she wanted him to ask her uncle.

Swallowing, Simba opened his mouth to ask Rijin the question that, now, Sodona and him both needed the answer to.

"Simba," said Uncle Rijin seriously before he could even speak. Simba deflated and glanced back at Sodona to see her looking anxious.

"Yes, Uncle…I mean, Rijin?" he asked cautiously, feeling stupid for the unintentional Uncle.

"I wonder, if you have nowhere else to go, would you like to live with us, at least until you want to leave?" His eyes were searching but not intimidating, so Simba answered straight away.

"Yes! Please, yes!"

He could see Sodona's eyes lighting up, the snow leopard whose name he didn't know yet smiling at her. His friend danced over to him as Rijin stepped back to let them jump about in the snow, laughing happily.

"Come on," said the snow leopard who'd been standing with Sodona a minute before, "We'd better get you two home. You're probably both hungry."

"Ohhh, Bakita…" moaned Sodona. "We were playing!"

"I'm starving," said Simba. "We didn't have any breakfast, did we, Sodona?"

She blinked at him. "Breakfast? We hardly ever have breakfast here, except on special occasions."

Instead of teasing her for not having breakfast, though, Simba simply asked, "What kind of special occasions?"

"Well, if someone's just had a cub, or it's midsummer, or if someone's died. Things like that," she said. She smiled at him and nuzzled him to his paws. "Come on. Let's go home. Our home," she grinned. Simba grinned back, feeling the happiest he'd ever felt since his father's death.


	6. Starlight

Hi-yet again- and this is me with-yet another- Snow Lands chapter. Thankyou so much for all the reviews and stuff I've been getting, I'll keep updating as much as I can. I don't own the lion king and I didn't steal this story, so enjoy!!!

xxx

Simba and Sodona had been dozing together ever since they'd returned home from outside, Simba with his back turned on his friend, Sodona huddling up to him as much as she could. However, the sound of paw steps woke them from their dreaming, Simba more quickly than his friend. He hadn't really been in a very deep sleep, though. Despite being tired, he wasn't warm enough or that tired to fall into a coma the way Sodona almost had.

Opening one amber eye, he saw Tilli on her own, a nasty gash across her shoulder. He scrambled to his paws, unsure of what she was going to do, but she simply walked by, looking a little sad, and curled up over at the opposite end of the cave.

Simba stared at her lonely looking shoulders until he jumped, because Sodona had just nuzzled into his own shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, yawning, and following his line of sight to Tilli. She cocked her head to one side, and then glanced at him.

"I think she lost that fight with Irena," Simba told her. "She has a big cut on her shoulder."

"I can hear you talking about me," grumbled Tilli. Sodona winced. "And you're wrong. I didn't lose that fight at all. But I got told off for it, and the others have all gone out to play and I have to stay in here all day. Thanks a lot, idiots." She curled into an even smaller ball.

Sodona's eyes narrowed in anger, but Simba nudged her with his paw.

"Don't. Just leave her alone." Any other time he would have reacted the same way as her, but Tilli looked so forlorn right now he couldn't muster up the anger to fight with her.

"Did Irena go with Ruben?" called Sodona curiously. Tilli didn't answer: she just groaned and licked her shoulder once, then when quiet.

"That's a yes," she told Simba, twining her tail around his. He pulled it away and stretched out.

"I'm hungry," he complained. "When do we get to eat?"

Sodona giggled. "We don't. Not until the adults get back from hunting. And that won't be til almost sun set."

"Well, what time is it now?" asked Simba, setting off to the cave entrance. Sodona followed him.

"It'll be quite a while yet, you know," she advised him, matching his pace. "We've got all day to just…" she did that annoying thing again, ducking under his chin and circling him, cuddling into him at the same time, her tail twisting- "play, and stuff."

Simba bounded to the side, almost shivering. Playing was fine- it was the 'and stuff' that he was worried about.

"Do you have to keep cuddling up to me?" he complained as she pretended to bite his tail with her sparkling white teeth. She raised her head, smiling.

"Of course I do," she purred, half closing her eyes and grinning cheekily.

"Yuck." Simba stuck his head out of the cave to see the sun high in the sky- but only just. He groaned as his stomach rumbled loudly.

"Are all the others out playing?" he asked Sodona.

She nodded. "I think so. But they won't be far away from here. In case that bear comes back. Why? Do you want to go and find them?"

"Why not?"

"But Irena might be there."

"What's so bad about her?" asked Simba, confused. Yes, she was quite annoying, but she was very pretty.

"What's good about her, you mean," retorted Sodona, raising a corner of her mouth in a sneer.

"She's not the only cub in your family," he pointed out. "You must have other friends aswell."

She sat on her haunches, thinking. "Well, yes, but I don't really like playing with them a lot. They're annoying, and sometimes they go off with Irena or Ruben or some other cubs in our group. I like most of them- but none of them are my best friends."

Simba blinked. He knew she wasn't unpopular or anything, but he'd assumed she must have lots and lots and best friends to treat him like one straight away.

Sodona stood up again, padding over to him. "Not like _you, _anyway, Simba."

"Yeah, alright. But remember, we're just friends," he muttered, turning his back on her and slumping down.

"Okay, okay. Just friends," she replied smugly, sitting down next to him. They were quiet for a few minutes, and then she suddenly jumped up, looking excited.

"Do you want to see something exciting?!" she called, racing away down the cave. Simba dived after her, racing to catch up.

"Sodona! You can slow down!" he called, wondering what could possibly be so important.

"That's right," said a croaky old voice. Wilfur stepped out of nowhere in front of Sodona, who skidded to a halt.

"You should slow down. Some of us are trying to have our afternoon nap," she nodded in the direction of a small group of young females, all dozing.

"Sorry, Wilfur. We'll try," promised Sodona. Simba stood beside her, looking up at the old snow leopard. Her coat was turning white with age, and her legs were battle scarred, but her eyes were bright greeny-blue and sparkling with wisdom.

She padded off, her long tail swishing amusedly. Simba tried twitching his own tail, but it wouldn't really go right. Everyone here seemed to use their tails as body language, and if he was really going to live with them, he wanted to learn to do the same.

Him and Sodona ran _slightly_ more slowly to wherever it was she was trying to take him, which was all the way to the back of the cave. At least, he thought it was, until she suddenly flicked her tail at him in signal to stop.

"What?" he asked, rubbing his nose. The air here was quite dusty and it was making him want to sneeze.

"Look in here," she whispered, pointing up to a hole in the cave roof.

Simba blinked up. He could see the bright blue sky from here, no clouds obscuring his view.

"What?" he asked. "It's just the sky."

She stared at him as though he'd hurt her. "At night, the sky that twinkles the brightest is my mother," she told him, her eyes wide with shock.

"Oh. Oh!" Simba realised that she must have somehow expected him to know that. "I didn't know, Sodona. I'm sorry. So…you see all the stars from here?"

She nodded, quickly forgetting it already. "Yep. It's the best view in the WHOLE world. Sometimes if no one else is here then I bag it first and listen to my mother."

"But if she's dead, how can you talk to her?" said Simba fairly.

Sodona looked at him, her blue eyes wide with wisdom. "I just listen hard enough."

She cuddled closer to him without him realising as he stared up at the sky above him, resting her head on his shoulder and twining her tail around his again.

Simba was still deep in thought when he heard a snicker that brought him out of them with a bump.

"Ha. Look at the love birds in their nest," sneered Ruben, his tail swishing in anticipation.

Simba leapt up, edgy for some reason. He didn't think that this was the right place for Ruben to be mean to him. This was a special place, he could feel it in the air around him.

"Go away, Ruben. At least I wouldn't leave Sodona here on her own all day," he snarled back.

"If you mean about Tilli, it wasn't _my _fault," he retorted. "And I wasn't out with Irena anyway. She was busy looking for you." He shot Simba a disgusted look.

"Me?" He was caught off guard. Why would Irena be looking for him?

"Well, I hope you told her that he was with me, and we've been together all day. We even fought a bear!" snapped Sodona proudly. "Right, Simba?"

"Yeah, right," snickered Ruben, shaking his head to move that tuft of black fur out of his eyes. "As if you and golden boy would fight a bear!"

Simba growled warningly, confident that because the leopard cub was alone he wouldn't fight back.

"We did," said Sodona, stepping forward. "Go and ask Uncle Rijin." Her face broke in a smile. "And he asked Simba if he wanted to stay, and guess what Simba said?"

The look on Ruben's horrified face was priceless. "Stay? Forever?!"

Simba stood taller, beaming. "Yep. I'm never going home." _Like I could anyway, _he thought sadly inside his head, but he made sure none of it showed on his face.

"You- you're joking!" Ruben gasped. "There's no- I'm going and asking, and if I find out you're lying- I mean you can't-" He dashed off, still muttering to himself, as Sodona cracked up laughing. Simba pricked his ears and peered after Ruben, sure that he could see Tilli leaping out to meet him and ask him what was wrong.

"You're my best friend, Simba," Sodona said, nestling up to him.

"Yeah," he replied, too busy watching Ruben scampering off than listening to what she'd just said. "Wait, what?"

Sodona laughed. "It doesn't matter. And he won't find Rijin for a long while- he's out hunting right now."

"If Irena's looking for me, what should we do when she finds us?" he asked.

"Ignore her," said Sodona, beginning to pad away.

"Errr…okay, then," agreed Simba. If it kept his new friend happy, he didn't really mind, even if she was very pretty.

Climbing up the boulders to get back into the cave, Irena was hungry, bored and annoyed. When she found Simba, he'd better not be with that stupid Sodona- or else Irena was going to show her who was boss around here, and she wouldn't be as easy going as she had been with Tilli.


	7. Sunset

Hi, and you'll know by now that this is The Lion King: The Snow Lands and that this is a new chapter I've updated!! I hope you guys review and stuff because I love reading all them, even if they're like one sentence long. Can you deny me that happiness?!??! Okay, I'm finished, so here goes: *cracks fingers*:

xxx

Irena leapt from rock to rock, her paws expertly keeping their grip on the ice-covered tops. When she reached the top, she shook herself to get rid of the snow that clung to her pale coat, and that stepped into the cave, looking for Simba and Sodona.

Near the back of the main part of the cave, the two of them were pawing one another, play fighting mildly- still a little worn out from the bear attack, but only a little.

"What do you eat, back where you come from?" asked Sodona, sitting down and looking at Simba curiously.

"You mean the Pridelands?" Simba remained standing, and padded closer to her as she began to wash her forepaw. She nodded.

"Right. There. What do you eat?"

"Kinda the same sort of stuff you hunt here. Antelope…zebra…sometimes hippopotamus if we're really hungry, but not often. Things like that."

"I have no idea what you just said. You must be really, really clever to know all this stuff." She stopped washing her paw and turned to him with admiring blue eyes.

He shrugged, feeling self conscious suddenly. "No I'm not. It's just food."

"Still, I've never heard of antelope." She pulled a face at this new word. "What does it look like?"

"Err…" Simba scratched his head, thinking hard. "Like…moose?"

"Then how come you didn't recognise it when you first ate it?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just didn't. It doesn't look the same. Antelopes are a different colour," he explained. "Moose are all grey and white, aren't they?" He'd noticed this when him and Sodona had been selecting what they were going to eat the previous day.

Sodona nodded. "Yes. It's to blend in with the snow and the rocks."

"Well, antelopes are more…brown. Like my colour, but darker."

"I _know _what colour brown is," said Sodona, rolling her eyes. "It's the colour of tree trunks and mud and when it's not been snowing for a while, the soil in the ground."

"You didn't have to say all that," replied Simba, frowning. "I just wanted to…what's wrong?"

His friend had stiffened and was glaring past him, her tail beginning to swish angrily. Turning, Simba saw a very annoyed looking Irena padding meaningfully over to them.

"What do you want?" growled Sodona, standing up.

Irena growled back, her black claws out and her tail twitching, ready for a fight. "None of your business." She turned to Simba, her eyes softer and smiling. "I've been looking for you all day, Simba. Where've you been?"

"With Sodona," scowled Simba as she swished her tail over him. "She's my friend."

"Sodona?" Irena laughed unkindly. "Sodona has no friends. That's why she latched onto you the minute she saw you."

"I do have friends!" retorted Sodona, jumping forwards, but Irena continued as if she hadn't heard her.

"You should come and play with us, Simba, not her."

"I don't think so. And I don't think Ruben wants me around anyway," Simba replied, sitting back down.

"Ruben? Oh, just ignore him. He's got that…Tilli to distract him. And anyway, you showed him who was boss last night. I don't think he'll try anything, even if he does have all those friends with him." She tried to nuzzle into his shoulder but he stepped away.

Sodona snarled a warning, and Irena whirled round aswell, finally losing her temper. She leapt at Sodona, batting at her with and scratching wildly. Sodona was stronger than she looked, though, and sank her bright white teeth into Irena's left front leg. Irena howled and sliced Sodona's neck, drawing blood. Simba leapt into the fray and tried to pull Irena off Sodona, but he got in the way of his friend's thorn sharp claw and rolled out of the battle with his nose smarting painfully and dripping blood. He shook his head to try to ease the pain when he saw Tilli herself launch into the midst of the other two and saw her sink her teeth into Irena's tail. Sodona accidentally bit Tilli's hind leg- Tilli retaliated by swiping a claw down her side. Irena kicked Tilli hard in the chest and turned back to Sodona, and Ruben and a few other cubs came running up to see what was going on.

"Fight!" yelled one of the younger cubs, jumping up and down with excitement. "Everyone, come quick!"

A few of the other cubs who had been watching a safe distance away now came running over, yelling and chanting. Simba didn't miss the fact that most of them were chanting Irena or Tilli's names, and hardly any were cheering Sodona on.

But before any of the cubs could win the fight, Rijin and a few other adults Simba didn't know appeared. Rijin roared loudly, his jaws exposing his sharp fangs, and the cubs not involved in the fight immediately scattered, tripping over one another in an attempt to get out of trouble. Sodona and Irena separated immediately, but Tilli kept her teeth around Sodona's hind leg until she realised who it was stood over her.

"What is going on?!" demanded another male who looked a little younger than Rijin.

The three cubs cowered under the gaze of the adults, with Simba wondering what he could to help.

"Irena?" A very pretty snow leopard who looked a little like Irena peered down at her sternly. "Were you fighting-again?"

Irena bent her ears and lowered her eyes, looking very scared and sorry. "I didn't mean to, mother. But I…I came to see Simba and me and Sodona had an argument. It got out of hand. I'm sorry."

"Very well. Come along, then. We've been out hunting and I saved you the nicest bit." Irena's mother turned the other way and Irena scampered after her, giving a nasty sneer at the other two snow leopards. Simba couldn't believe she'd been let off so easily- and Rijin didn't look so happy about it either. _So why doesn't he do something? _Simba wondered.

"Tilli, you've already been caught fighting with Irena once today," said Sodona's uncle, peering down at Tilli, who's damaged shoulder was crossed with even more scratches now. It looked quite painful.

Tilli looked away, scuffling awkwardly. "Those two were already fighting when I got here. I wanted to teach Irena a lesson for cutting my shoulder open and getting away with it, so I just…"

"Just what?" said Rijin when she broke off. "Thought you'd join in the fight?"

She didn't answer, so he sniffed and glanced at the young male behind him, who raised his eyebrows and then glared at Tilli. Rijin also returned to looking at her.

"Your brother can decide your punishment this time," he announced. "I have Sodona to deal with."

Sodona sank even lower at his words. Simba swallowed, rubbing his nose, which made it hurt even more.

"Gamar," he nodded at Tilli's older brother, who turned and led her away ominously.

Rijin watched them leave a few paces, then returned his icy gaze on his niece. "Well, Sodona," he announced, scowling, "I'm waiting for an explanation."

"Irena j-just came u-up a-and started making f-fun of me," she stammered. "I g-growled at her a-and she j-just at-attacked me."

Simba knew he had to help his friend, especially now the other adults were beginning to drift off, having stopped the fight and sorted the cubs out.

"She's telling the truth!" he put in, padding forward. "Irena said she had no friends and that I should just leave her alone. Sodona just growled at her, and she jumped on her! Sodona was just protecting herself," he added, flicking his ears at Sodona in way of acknowledging her grateful blink.

Her uncle raised an eyebrow. "You call trying to rip someone's ear off protecting yourself?"

"Well…no," Simba admitted, but, not to be defeated, added: "But she was at first, and Tilli didn't help."

Rijin narrowed his eyes, clearly thinking deeply. After a few seconds he said, "Alright. But I don't want to see fighting between our own family, Sodona. And if you ever do it again, you will be punished."

"But I'm not this time?" Sodona bounced up, her tail swishing excitedly. She froze under her uncle's stern gaze, and then sat back down again. "Uncle."

"No, not this time." Simba noticed the gleam of amusement in his blue eyes. "Go and play. And stay away from the other two!" he called as Sodona and Simba bounded away.

"We will!" they both called over their shoulders almost at the same time, and then giggled. They reached the cave entrance and peered out at the setting sun, making the snow sparkle with yellow diamonds.

"You know where I go to get the best view?" Sodona asked Simba. He shook his head.

"Where do you go?"

"Follow me," said his friend with a smile, and then ran to the edge of the cave entrance and leapt off the ledge to the side!

"Sodona!!!" yelled Simba, wondering where on earth she could have jumped to. It was a very high cave- all those rocks took a long time for a cub to climb up- and despite the snow, he didn't think she'd get to the bottom even in one piece.

But when he rushed out, looking frantically from side to side, he heard a peal of laughter to the left of him and saw her standing on a rocky ledge sticking out of the side of the mountain the cave was home to.

"I'm here, Simba!" she called. "Jump down!"

"But what if I don't make it?" he yelled back.

She laughed at him, her tail twitching. "Come on, don't be a scaredy leopard!"

Without warning she dived off to a ledge that was higher than the one she was stood on right now, and then one higher than that. Taking a deep breath, Simba leapt into thin air, hoping to land where Sodona had.

He misjudged his jump- he ended up half on and half off of the ledge, and had the wind knocked out of him in a big whoosh!. Struggling, Simba managed to claw his way onto it, and heard Sodona shouting for him to hurry up from above him. Not bothering to reply, he readied himself and jumped for the next one, this time with more success.

He jumped higher and higher, not catching up with Sodona but going his fastest. He tried his best not to look down- he was already above the cave mouth- and he tried not to think about what would happen if he fell all that length down. But, just as he reached the next ledge in his journey, Simba heard Sodona.

"Wow, you took your time then." She was sat on top of the cave roof, beaming at him and flicking her tail. Simba crouched down, ready to pounce over to her. This jump was longer than any of the distances between the ledges, and he didn't really want to misjudge this one and get dashed to pieces by the rocks and ledges below him. Swaying his haunches, he leapt forward, putting all his strength into his leg muscles, determined to get over to where she was sat.

He was fine, aswell- he landed further back on the cave roof than Sodona, and then rolled over, slipping slightly. "Whoa!"

Sodona put a paw on his tail playfully, and didn't let go.

"Get off," grumbled Simba, wrinkling his nose which was smarting badly again. He pulled his golden tail away from her and then peered around him.

"So, where's the best place to see the sunset?" he asked.

"Here," she said, padding in a circle. "You can see _everything _here."

Simba trotted carefully to the front edge of the cave roof. It reminded him a little of the top of Pride Rock- only covered in white stuff, and the view here wasn't nearly as good. But it was still beautiful. Tiny, spiky trees cropped up here and there- over to the right of him, he could see a curving line of black which he assumed must be the river that Rijin had told him where the bears hunted. The amber sun glowed at them, the sky beginning to deepen to purple and the first star was gleaming above them.

"Wow…" Simba trailed off, and became aware of Sodona sitting next to him.

"Isn't it great?" she exclaimed, nudging him.

"At my old home, we had a view like this too, but bigger…and no snow," he told her. "I wish you could see it."

"Well, why can't I?" asked Sodona. Turning to her, Simba began to realise that although the last time she hadn't pressed him for the details, she might begin to the more he spoke about it. He'd better keep his mouth shut.

"It doesn't matter," he said quickly. "Who showed you this place?"

"My mum," Sodona told him, smiling. "She said I don't have to be lonely when she died, I could just look up and see her."

"My dad told me- I mean, your mum knew when she was going to die?" said Simba, frowning with curiosity.

"Of course she did," said Sodona, blinking at him. "She was a Night Watcher. They know everything, don't they?"

Simba stared at her. Every time he thought he knew all about the snow leopard's culture, Sodona came out with something new. He wondered if he'd ever learn it all.

"No. I've never heard of a…Night Watcher."

She pulled a face at him. "How can you not- they look at the stars and they have special dreams and they know everything. They're quite rare. Wilfur kind of is one."

"But, if she knew when she was going to die, why didn't she do something to stop it happening?"

"She said to me, 'Sodona, there is a time when everyone has to die, and mine is now. But don't worry. I'll be with the stars tonight, and if you listen hard enough, you'll hear me. I'll stay with you every night, if you want, anytime you want.'"

"How did your mother die?" asked Simba, not meaning any offence but causing some anyway.

Sodona turned her head away, her blue eyes darkening with sadness. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. That's okay."

Sodona edged closer to him. "Simba, you're my bestest friend in all the world."

Simba smiled. "You're mine too." He meant the words, aswell. He never thought he'd find another home, especially not in this wonderland filled with new friends and enemies. But he had. And maybe this time, he wouldn't ruin it.


	8. Relationships

Hi, and I'm sorry but I couldn't leave my story with Simba as a cub. I HAD to write another chapter, and probably after this one another and another. Why is it so addicting?!?!? Well, anyways, this is the next chapter in my fan fic inspired by Sarafina's fan art which you can find on the web (if you read the reviews page, you'll see some links…I think.)

Okay, this section of the story is set…err…I'm not sure how long it takes lions and leopards to grow up, but Simba and Sodona aren't the naïve little cubs they were in the last section (but they're still cute.) I have to admit, in this chapter almost nothing happens because I kind of needed to reinforce everyone's relationships with everyone else, but the next chapter will be a LOT better, I promise. Enjoy!

xxx

Simba awoke with a yawn, stretching out his paws and opening his jaws wide to reveal his sharp teeth. Beside him, his friend Sodona was still snoozing away, curled up in a ball of grey fur.

"Sodona! Pst! Wake up!" Simba nudged her with his paw. He wanted her to get up quietly- he loved being the first one up, ready to enjoy the dawn sunlight before anyone else. His golden fur was tufty and thick- not as thick as the snow leopards, but enough to keep him warm (on the more warm days, anyway.) The first tufts of his red mane were beginning to push through his throat, behind his ears, on the back of his neck. At one time, Simba would have been excited by this- but now, it just made him feel more like an outcast.

"Okay, okay, I'm up," purred Sodona, rolling over underneath him. Simba wasn't too bothered by her displays of affection now- he'd grown used to them, but still wished that she'd grow use to him ignoring her and then she's stop, because it was very annoying.

"Good. Finally. Come on, come on, I want to go!" encouraged Simba, leaping forward, but then he pause and turned back to her, one paw raised. She rose to her paws, blinking her big blue eyes and swishing her tail, waking up properly. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Race you there!" she cried loudly, setting off without him.

"Hey, wait up, that's not fair!" cried Simba, diving after her.

Laughing, Sodona collapsed at the edge of the cave, waiting for Simba to catch up.

"Come on, come on, I want to go!" she mimicked him cheekily. Simba swiped a playful paw at her and she batted back, her tail flicking in amusement.

"Can you keep it down?" growled Tilli from nearby. "We're trying to sleep here."

Ruben didn't open his eyes, but he snarled warningly. Irena, who lay nearby, was washing her paw, and rolled her eyes at Tilli. They'd never got on, and Simba doubted that they ever would. He gazed at Irena for a moment. She was getting even more beautiful as she got older- her pale coat sleek and thick, her eyes sapphire blue, her claws sharp and even.

"Shut up, Tilli," retorted Sodona. "Get back to sleep, then. We're not stopping you. Come on, Simba," she ordered, and set off out of the cave. Simba turned away from Irena and jumped off after her.

Irena glanced up from her licking and watched Simba's tail disappear over the edge of the cave, a smile spreading over her lips. Recently she's noticed the lion's growing interest in her. She was almost grown up now, anyway- not the silly, immature little cub she had been. And, it seemed, maybe Simba was too.

The only thing that stood in the way of them was Sodona- stupid little Sodona, who acted like a child and who wasn't even pretty. Irena's lip curled as she thought of her. But fighting wouldn't solve anything- at least, not yet. She's win Simba over sneakily, just to show that little idiot who was lead girl around here.

Tilli snuggled closer to Ruben, who made no attempt to cuddle her or warm her up like the other girls' boyfriends did. It wasn't fair, she thought, it never was- her and Ruben had been together since they were cubs, yet he'd always had his eye on Irena. He didn't realise how much Tilli felt for him: he didn't realise how much she loved him.

That was stupid, she thought to herself, shaking the idea from her head. If he didn't like her, he would have told her long before now. And he hadn't. So he must like her, right? She raised her head, running her gaze along his perfect, lean body- his dark fur and the tuft that peeked out in-between his ears, the way his emerald eyes gleamed at night, and…just him, altogether. _He completes me, _she thought. _But do I complete him?_

Simba and Sodona, on the other hand, were far more joyful and much less serious about their relationship. They were just friends- best friends, though Simba knew that Sodona wanted to be more. But he wasn't ready. She still didn't know about his family, about what had happened when he was younger- anyway, he didn't even love Sodona.

"Do you want to go down by the river?" Sodona asked him when they'd put a lot of distance between them and the cave. Pine trees stretched out ahead of them: behind them was endless white snow. The cold black river was quite a few miles away, but it was always a fun place to visit, especially when it was frozen over, though Simba knew to check the ice before you skated on it. He'd fallen through it once, when he was younger. It had been lucky Sodona's uncle Rijin had been nearby at the time. The current in some parts of the river was terrifyingly fast.

"Sure, okay," replied Simba. "Why there? Is there something special there today?"

Sodona shrugged. "No, I just wanted to go down by there and…talk."

"Talk?" Simba felt a little confused at that. "What about?"

She looked shifty. "About stuff." She turned at set off walking, expecting him to follow.

"What kind of stuff?" Simba padded after her.

"I don't know. It's just… it's an easy place to talk near."

She clearly didn't want to say until they got there. Simba took two big bounds and walked next to her, unsure of what to say all of a sudden. She seemed serious, which was rare for Sodona. She was almost always giddy and bubbling over with happiness, but now her tail twitched with nervousness.

"Sodona, why don't you just tell me what this is about?" Simba pointed out exasperatedly.

"I…I don't want to…okay." She breathed deeply, blinking. "I've been thinking for a long time now, Simba. We've been friends for- for so long now."

"I know. Isn't that a good thing?" asked Simba, pausing with confusion.

"Yes, it is!" she nodded feverently, looking anxious. "A very good thing! That's why I'm telling you, because…you know what Tilli and Ruben are like, don't you?"

"Err…annoying and nasty?" pointed out Simba, completely lost now. Where was this going?

Sodona giggled. "Yes, but apart from that. They're a couple."

Simba stopped dead. He realised what she was getting at now.

"Sodona…"

"No! Wait. Here me out, please." She dived in front of him, her eyes sparkling.

"There's nothing to hear out. We've had this conversation before." They had, aswell, though before Sodona hadn't asked Simba- Simba had told her that he didn't fancy her, and it had been months ago, and it hadn't made the slightest bit of difference.

"Yes, but I don't think you understand. We're older now, Simba- we know how we feel about each other, don't we?"

"You know how you feel about me," pointed Simba out. "I only think of you as a friend."

"Why, though? What are you trying to prove?" cried Sodona, as Simba turned his head away.

"I'm not trying to 'prove' anything. I just don't want you as a…you're just my friend," explained Simba.

"So you don't care about my feelings?" said Sodona incredulously.

"That's not true!" Simba whirled round, frowning. "Of course I do."

"Then-"

"I don't want to talk about this any more." Simba sat down, scowling. The reality was he didn't think he was good enough for Sodona- he didn't deserve her. He'd never truly got over his father's death and he never would; why should Sodona have to put up with his shame?

"Is this about why you came here in the first place?" she said, her voice unchanged.

"What?" he cocked his head in confusion.

"You've always seemed a little cold and distant to me. Always. You try not to show it but you are. I don't think you know what you're doing but- Simba, why can't you just tell me? We've been friends for so long now. Do you not trust me?"

Simba shifted to turn his back on her. "I can't tell you."

"Oh, like I've never heard that before," snapped Sodona, her tail swishing.

Anger made him turn around and stand up, his own tail twitching with annoyance. "It's a secret. I don't want to talk about it, and you can't make me."

Sodona sighed in exasperation. "I'm going hunting. Maybe I can catch a hare or something."

Simba snorted uninterestedly, then set off in the opposite direction. Sodona walked away, muttering to herself, angry and upset. Hunting always calmed her down, and she hoped today would be no different.

Her friend had been following the river up to the big cedar trees that grouped around one of the thicker points of the black river, which wasn't frozen over today. Simba stopped suddenly and pricked his ears. He could hear something, the lapping of water. Tentatively he stepped forward, not sure what to expect, but always being careful- the bears that lived not too far from the river would be out hunting.

Emerging from behind one of the cedars, he saw Irena drinking from the river, her sapphire eyes keeping a watch on the water. Her tail swished in acknowledgment that she knew he was there.

"Hello, Simba," she purred, raising her head from drinking and gazing at him. "Where's that…Sodona?" She spat his friend's- ex-friends, now- name. At any other time Simba would have stuck up for her, but now he didn't see why he should.

"She's hunting," he grunted, padding closer as Irena sat down and begin washing her paws.

"Without you? I thought you and her were practically an item."

"What? We're not an item!" growled Simba, glaring at her. Irena put her paw down and smirked.

"Then who do you want to be an item with?" she replied, ignoring his unpleasant tone.

Simba shrugged. "No one."

"No one? Not Tilli or that pretty Leena?" Irena named her second cousin and good friend in Leena.

Simba shook his head. "No one."

Irena stood up and circled him as he sat and watched the river. "Not even…me?" As she stepped over his tail she purposefully placed her hind paw on the base of it, making him jump up.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Irena laughed. "Come on. Shall we follow the river and see what we find?"

Simba frowned, thinking about it. Then he said, "Why not? Okay, let's go."

Irena smiled contentedly to herself, standing as close to Simba as she could get. Oh, Sodona was going to _love_ this.


	9. Irena

Hi everyone, and…!!!! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to write for so long- I've had a nasty kidney infection and I've had to lie in bed for so long I've started to hate the thing…*shivers* anyway, I'm writing again now- even though I should be doing my English homework- so please, enjoy! Um, okay, reading through my last chapter…ohh…I remember…okay, yes, I hope you like it!

xxx

Simba and Irena crunched through the forest, their paws sinking into the snow. It was crisp on top and soft underneath, because no new snowfall had come for a few days now. The sun overhead made everything sparkle; the sounds of birds and small animals they couldn't be bothered hunting broke the icy silence. Simba enjoyed the quiet, though, and Irena seemed to aswell. She kept her blue eyed gaze on him as much as she could, glancing at him sideways from time to time to see if he was staring at her. It annoyed her a bit when she realised he wasn't.

All the other snow leopards, especially Ruben, couldn't keep their eyes off her. She was maturing fast, and every day she became more beautiful, and she knew it. So, why didn't Simba give her the same affection everyone else did? She could almost growl every time she caught him with that stupid Sodona. Oh, she hated her so much.

"Are you hungry?" Simba broke the silence between them almost wistfully.

Irena grinned to herself. She'd flirt with him now, just to wind him up, and through him, Sodona.

"I might be." She flicked her tail cheekily. Simba paused in his tracks, raising an eyebrow and smiling amusedly.

"Well, are you or aren't you?"

"I am for some things." She pranced in front of him, lifting her paws elegantly.

"Like what?" he asked, hurriedly catching up with her. He stopped suddenly as she did too, whirling round so their noses almost touched.

"You." She fluttered her black eyelashes.

Simba laughed, almost unnerved, and sidestepped to get away from her. "Okay, then…so you want to eat me?"

"I might do." She snapped at him playfully with her sharp white teeth, then turned towards the river. "Come on."

He followed her as she bounded through the trees towards where he could hear rushing water, and only a few seconds later he burst through a snow covered bush to see her staring into the black, rushing water. Simba padded up beside her.

"It looks cold, doesn't it?" he commented, following her line of sight.

"Why? Did you want to go swimming?"

Simba nudged her. "Of course not. I can't swim. Can you?"

"Why would I want to, Simba?" Irena sounded distant, despite her mild teasing. He wondered what was wrong with her. Whenever Sodona was sad, she simply retreated to the part of the cave where she could speak with her mother- he still hadn't dared to try it with his father, the pain still hurt him after all this time- but with Irena, he didn't think that was an option.

"What's wrong, Irena?" he asked quietly, unsure of how to ask her without making her annoyed.

"I'm sure, if you stare at the water long enough, you can see your own reflection, you know," she answered, still staring at the river.

Simba turned away, wondering why she hadn't answered his question. She wasn't that sensitive, was she?

"I know what I look like from when ponds and pools get frozen over," she continued. "But, if I can see my own reflection in this water- this black, rushing water- doesn't that mean that I must be the most beautiful snow leopard that ever lived? Even this river can't escape my beauty."

Simba didn't know what to say. Could anyone be so self centered and vain? Sodona was never like this-but Sodona was only interested in play fighting, not talking. But how could she-Irena- be so stupid? Staring into the water for hours, just to see her own reflection so she could know she was beautiful. She already knew it- and with a jolt, Simba realised that he knew it too. He'd always known it, of course, he wasn't blind- but never in this kind of way.

"You don't need to stare into this rushing water just to know you're beautiful," he said carefully. "Irena, everyone knows that you are. Just look at Ruben. And Tilli is so jealous- and Sodona is too. I can tell." He winced as he realised how much he would have upset his friend, but decided to feel guilty later.

She turned to Simba, her head sideways slightly, blinking her eyes. "But do _you _know it, Simba?" she murmured. "I don't care if every other snow leopard in the world thinks I'm the most beautiful girl to ever have lived. It means nothing to me if you don't, too."

Irena had chosen her words very carefully. She was lying- she never sat by the river and she knew she was beautiful, but she wanted to almost honey trap Simba into saying he thought she was pretty too. Sure, he was handsome, and aswell as that, Sodona would be so annoyed! She kept her face blank, though, the same sad and thoughtful expression, so he wouldn't see through her.

Simba paused. What could he say? Her expression was almost sad and she was staring at him like she wanted him to say exactly the right thing and nothing else, but her eyes sparkled like this was some kind of joke. Was she being serious? And could he risk offending her? His paws tingled as he stared back at her, her pale grey coat gleaming in the white light. She was very, very beautiful…

He waited just a few seconds too long. Irena looked down, then stood to her paws and quickly turned away. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, Simba. I just thought…I'd never told anyone this before. I thought you'd understand. Goodbye."

Her voice was thick with anger but most of all, sadness. She sounded really upset.

Simba darted besides her, trying to meet her eyes, but she looked away. "Irena! Wait. I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to…Sodona's never said anything like this to me." Again, another pang for betraying his friend. Old friend. Whatever.

"Sodona, Sodona," muttered Irena. "It's always been about her, hasn't it, Simba? Always. I know that she was the first snow leopard you met, but me…I've always felt this way about you. And I know she hasn't." A voice in the back of her mind told her that she was over doing it and that he wouldn't believe her if she went over the top much more, but she ignored her.

"Well…" he couldn't bear the sight of her hanging her pretty head, her long, smooth tail drooping. "No. Sodona's my friend, but that's it. I don't think of her as my partner. Just my friend. And you…you are the most beautiful snow leopard I've ever met."

Irena's eyes flickered. _Perfect. _"Really?" She turned her clear sapphire eyes back to him. "You- you mean that, Simba?"

He nodded, the tufts of scarlet hair around his neck sparkling where snow was stuck in them, catching the light. Irena smiled and padded back to him.

"And you won't tell anyone about the river?"

"Of course not." He didn't know whether to back away or not. She pressed her pale grey body up against his golden one, her tail flicking against his legs, and nuzzled under his chin.

"Oh, Simba. You have such a good heart. And there's nothing…there's nothing that you want to tell me, either?" If she could get his deepest secret, that was an added bonus. Like, where did he come from?

Simba froze. How did she know about that secret? Had Sodona told her? That little…how dare she!

"No. There's nothing."

His tone made Irena curious.

"Are you sure, Simba? You can trust me, I promise."

"No! I mean it, Irena, please." He softened his voice so she didn't look so alarmed. "Sorry, I'm just…a bit paranoid right now." He smiled wanly. "Anyway… do you want to go hunting? I'm starving."

"Of course. Although-" she had to say this, no matter how corny it sounded, even in her own head- "I am quite full of you now."

Simba laughed, even though it wasn't funny. Why could Sodona never be this simple to be with? Why did she always have to bounce about and spoil things by trying to take their friendship too far? And she must have hinted to at least one other cub that Simba had a dark secret, otherwise why would Irena ask such a direct question? Unless he was just being paranoid…still, he was still a little angry at Sodona, and any excuse to be angry towards her would do. But, he didn't want to think of it like that. It wasn't an excuse. Right?


	10. Similarities

Hi everyone!! I bet you thought I'd totally forgotten about this story, didn't you? I don't blame you, because I almost did. My computer's been crashing, and I've been having to prepare for my German GCSE at school….uh. School. Still, I've decided to take a day out and carry on with it, because now my embarrassingly bad writer's block has subsided, I've had a good idea of what to do with the story, and I hope you'll like it. :D

xxx

Irena paused suddenly, her ears pricked and her eyes wide. She sniffed deeply, turning her head to the left.

Simba sniffed aswell, trying to pick up whatever it was she seemed excited about. "Moose!" he whispered, licking his lips. He was in the mood for a big lunch today, after all that had happened to him.

Irena nodded, then crouched low into the snow and crept forward. Simba's golden coat was so bright that hunting for him should be impossible, but instead, the moose and other food here had never seen a lion before and maybe never would again, so how could they be sure if it was a threat or not? And even the occasional animal which got scared was scarcely a match for the sudden attack of the snow leopards- they were so preoccupied with wondering if Simba would hurt them they forgot to check for other dangers.

Simba darted to the other side of Irena, as far away as possible, so that the moose wouldn't spot her and give them away. Hopefully it wouldn't understand the threat til the last minute, and then it would be too late.

It came into sight a few seconds later- a big grey buck with sparkling antlers and a powerful body. As usual, it caught sight of Simba's golden pelt before he was hardly fifty metres near it- and, as usual, it stared at him uncertainly as Irena expertly crept around to its blind side, invisible against the camouflaged environment. Simba sniffed the snow to confuse it even more- what kind of a predator would take an interest in the ground? Most would be preparing to dive in for the kill by now. The moose let out a long breath and short grunt, raising its hoof to paw the earth in worry.

Irena was too close for it to escape now- with one powerful spring she dived on its back and, as it immediately reared and bellowed, trying to shake her off, but she sank her teeth into its neck and drew plenty of blood before becoming dislodged. The moose was too weak to run away, though, and Simba leapt onto its neck, instantly killing it painlessly and honourably. As was the snow leopard's custom, he silently thanked his 'ancestors' for the powerful body they had given him to be able to hunt and eat this meat. It was second nature to him now- if it hadn't been for his pelt and tufty mane, he would have been a complete member of their family and their culture.

"Good hunting," purred Irena, carefully washing the blood from her whiskers. Her eyes gleamed from the thrill.

Simba nodded. "Definitely. A whole moose!" He paused, nudging it. "We can't eat all this on our own. Let's take it back home and share it with the cubs."

Irena stood and twined his tail with hers. "You're so generous, Simba, you know that? I'm so glad you're my…friend."

"Just friend?" asked Simba, raising an eyebrow.

Irena laughed, though inside she was almost taken aback that he was actually, finally, returning her advances. "You don't want to hurt that Sodona's feelings, do you?"

Simba sighed, staring at the floor. "She doesn't seem to mind hurting mine." _Even though she hasn't, _the voice inside him said. _She's annoying, okay, but she really cares about you. And you know she does._

He ignored it and seized a mouthful of moose, flicking his ears for Irena to follow before she could comment on what he'd just said. She paused, but then followed his lead, and together they dragged the heavy carcass back to the cave. It was lucky that they were quite strong, Simba especially, and that the snow here was slippy enough for it to basically just slide across the floor. It took almost none of their energy to take it home, and Irena was spending her energy thinking very carefully about this new and sudden development.

If Simba did eventually fall in love with her, what would she do then? Irena was not a very nice leopard, at least not in what she was doing now, and she'd really only done this to annoy stupid Sodona, and annoy Ruben, and through Ruben Tilli. That would give her power over them all- all the chain of events would lead back to her. Always her. But she wasn't in love with Simba, she knew, although she certainly thought him handsome, and being his 'mate' would certainly make her even more popular…even though what she'd said, all those dramatic words before, she knew that she did not, could not- at least not yet- truly love him. Another thought struck her- a random, disjointed thought that was surprisingly deep for her: despite the fact they were of a different species, they seemed similar, as though the same ancestors had given created them as copies of one another, and then changed them and placed them in the world that was best suited to them. Snow and ice for the snow leopards, sun and sand- from what she'd heard of Simba's past- for lions.

Shaking her head, she grinned through a mouthful of fur. This stage in her rather immature plan was going well. Right now, that was all that mattered.

Sodona was feeling lonelier than ever as she re entered the cave on her own. Tilli and Reuben weren't anywhere to be seen; everyone else was out playing, except for some of the youngest cubs and Mireeka, who had belly ache and was trying to sleep if off. Sighing, Sodona padded to the end of the cave, and then a bit further, not understanding. All the others had friends; some even had boy friends. What was wrong with her? She'd never really considered herself ugly; not beautiful, but not ugly. But now she wasn't so sure. She'd heard all the old leopard's stories of tragedies, and now one came to mind: Trannia, the leopard that had killed herself after her mate Nassi told her that she was too ugly for him to love her any more. After realising her mate was now in love with another leopard, her friend Sinhault, Trannia threw herself off the rocks at the top of the cliff after engraving her signature in rock at the back of the cave.

But no matter how ugly she was, Sodona had no intention of committing suicide. There was too much to live for here; the beautiful sunsets and dawns, the taste of freshly caught food, playing on the iced over river or listening to the sounds of a blizzard. But not friendship. The other leopards seemed to like Sodona, some of them anyway, but they didn't invite her to play their games when they were little- not often, anyway- and they normally decided not to include her in their conversations, aswell. No one was unkind to her (except Tilli, Ruben and Irena, and occasionally a few of their followers) but neither did they like her very much.

She kept going and going, even past the special place in the cave where she could talk to her mother. The cave went on forever, deep into the mountain, where it seemed to smell of mystery and the secrets of eternity. Sodona breathed in deeply, and then, when she felt she was getting close, she went to the left of the cave and gently rubbed herself against the wall.

She could feel the scratches Trannia had left here; she could almost imagine the beautiful (no matter what Nassi had told her, every version of the story had Trannia as a beautiful yet very trusting leopard) girl leaving a reminder of herself. Sodona frowned, trying to remember the whole of the story. Wilfur had told it to her a long time ago, when she was still a cub, before she'd even met Simba. Not many of the other cubs cared much for the stories, preferring to play fight instead, but it transfixed Sodona.

Trannia had been a night watcher; yes, that was it, a very powerful night watcher, so strong that she was almost feared, despite her soft and kind nature. She didn't fight very well, and she was a clumsy hunter, but she was still deeply respected by the family of leopards back then. Only her best friend Sinhault and her mate, Nassi, understood her. But just when Trannia was finally beginning to enjoy her life, Nassi and Sinhault realised they were in love. Nassi could hunt with Sinhault, and fight by her side; she was normal and pretty. No matter how kind and powerful Trannia was, in his eyes Sinhault was infinitely better. So he told Trannia.

She didn't understand what he was saying, at first; she thought he wanted time apart from her for a while, and she sadly agreed that if it would make him happy then it was right. And then he told her about Sinhault.

It broke her heart on the spot. Nassi didn't even try to cushion the blow by saying how sorry he was- he just told her straight out, coldly and emotionlessly. He didn't care how fragile she was, and when she demanded he explain himself, he told her the first thing he could think of to get her to leave him alone. He told her she was the ugliest leopard he'd ever laid eyes on, and that she should leave him alone because he simply did not love her.

Trannia did not kill herself straight away; if Sodona remembered correctly, she was nursing Nassi's cubs at the time, or at least expecting them. She spent day after day thinking about how ugly she was and how everyone must hate her, despite what they said to make her feel better. Every time she saw her best friend and her old mate together, her heart broke a little further.

But the final straw was not the fact that her love had deserted her, because Trannia was stronger than that, if only barely. It was the fact that she was wallowing in her grief for so long that she grew apart from her powers, from her cubs, and from the other night watchers from the other families in the areas. Her connection with the stars deserted her, and wrongly believing it to be because they too thought she was ugly, Trannia etched her mark into the cave and then killed herself.

Sodona was jolted out of the story with a shudder. She'd got so absorbed in her thoughts she could almost have been there, experienced Trannia's grief and even her suicide by the night watcher's side.. _No one should deserve that, _she thought. _Not Tilli or Ruben, not Simba, not even Irena. _

The atmosphere up here was becoming eerie, and Sodona decided to leave this place out of fear. It was as though the air was whispering secrets to her, and she wanted to go now, back to the normal daily life of hunting and fighting and playing and drama. Back to the normal world.

Simba and Irena managed to drag the carcass up the rocks, where it was much harder to manoeuvre their lunch, and then into the cave, where they were greeted by the few other leopards who had come back home for some lunch. Bakita and Mireeka were sharing a small hare- Mireeka hadn't been feeling very well recently and had only been eating light meals, so Simba assumed Bakita had caught the hare.

He was feeling very hungry by now, so the minute he and Irena had dragged the moose over to the rather small pile of food, he seized a hind leg and pulled til it came free with a ripping sound and a small smatter of blood.

"Let's share it," said Irena, sweeping her tail over the upper half of his body and leading him over to a quiet area of the cave by a rock. He nodded as best he could, and then nodded again to knock a tuft of red mane out of his eyes, then waited for Irena to flick her ears at him. He lay the food down, and then sank his teeth hungrily into the hip- he felt embarrassed as Irena just nibbled the tiniest bit off the edge.

"Do you always eat this messily, or just because I'm here?" she asked, her eyes gleaming.

"Just because you're here," grinned Simba. "I want to scare you off."

"Oh really? Well, it'll take more than that to frighten me," she sneered, but her tail twitched playfully.

Simba paused, raising his eyebrows and flicking his own tail. She stared up at him, realising what he was about to do.

"No! Simba, I've just groomed my-" her words were cut off as he pounced on her gently but firmly and pinned her down. She growled jokingly and rolled over, knocking him off with a paw and whipping her tail. They dived at each other again, trying to get one over on the other.

He never had this much fun with Sodona, not any more; Irena was everything to him now, much better than her. And he knew that maybe this snow leopard might not betray his secrets. Simba wondered how much Irena really knew, how much Sodona had told her about the secret…although he'd not told her much of it. He remembered that conversation, quite a while ago now, but quite a while after she'd showed him how to get to the top of the cave.

"_I've done something I'm not really that proud of, Sodona," he'd told her._

_She hadn't said anything, just stared at him tactfully. _

"_I was involved in a really bad accident and…" he'd swallowed, unsure of what to say next. "Someone close to me…got really hurt. And…it was all my fault!"_

_She still hadn't said anything, just sat staring at her paws, thinking hard. "That someone must have been very, very badly hurt for you to run away from home," she said wisely. "But it can't have been your fault, Simba. You'd never do anything bad on purpose. I know you wouldn't…"_

Irena was lying on top of him and tugging at his ear as he stopped to remember this short but important conversation.

"Simba? I think I won," she laughed, climbing off and taking another, bigger mouthful of moose leg.

"Yeah. I think you did too," he said, trying to shake the memories off and enjoy his time with her. He had trusted Sodona- why had she given him away like this? And how could it be accident? She was so careful with her tongue. She didn't blurt things out or, as far as he had known, spread things, maybe partly because she didn't have anyone to spread them to. But now he saw her in a different light. Not a good one.

In fact, he was seeing her right now, emerging from the back of the cave looking deep in thought and slightly mysterious. He felt anger and a low growl rise in the back of his throat as she stepped casually into the now rather busy cave.

"Oh, look who it is," said Irena, an edge in her voice. Turning to look at her, Simba stared into her blue eyes and saw that she seemed to be hinting at him to do something. To break friends with her, ultimately and completely?

He didn't dare say it out loud, not even as an idea, and instead told Irena, "Wait here a minute, Irena. I'll be back in a second. Don't eat all the moose!" he added jokingly, just to add a little light on the mood.

She paused, uncertain, then shrugged and waited for him to sort it out. A second later, though, Simba felt her by his shoulder, and she winked her mischievous blue eyes at him.

Then he turned back to Sodona. She was in _so _much trouble.


	11. Author's Note please read :D

Hi guys…sorry about this chapter, because as you can see, it's not really a chapter, but I need to say just a few things.

First of all, thankyou so much for continually reading the story, reviewing, adding me and the story to your favourite lists and just reading it! To think I first thought it would just be a one shot. I'm glad that you all like it.

Second, is that I might take the story and make it a little darker now. After all, the leopards (and lion) are growing older now, and I don't want to just recycle old storylines (maybe I already am, but, oh well.) So I'm thinking about, well, making it more serious in more places and possibly a few deaths…but I don't know. Tell me what you think.

And thirdly… well, see, the thing is (without boring you to death with my life story) I thought I wanted to be a film director when I was older, but now I'm thinking of being an author…a real author, not just a fan fiction one, ;D. And I was wondering if you thought I'd even be able to? I had an idea for a story called _Autumn Moon, _(I was going to call it Harvest Moon, hence my pen name, until I found out so many people have already trade marked that L )about a girl called Stephanie White, who's seventeen years old and…stuff happens to her. It's not a copy of Twilight or anything. Oh, and you know that story Sodona remembers, about Trannia and Sinhault and Nassi? Well, they're characters that I took from Autumn Moon.

Thankyou for reading this incredibly boring author's note, and please, _PLEASE, _tell me if you think I could write an actual story. (I won't forget this one.)

I'm writing the next chapter right now, and I'll post it the minute I get reviews from this! Enjoy the story!!!


	12. Changes

Hi everyone! I'll get straight in today, and thank you for the comments about my Author's Note :D. Please review, the more I get the faster I'll update, haha! I really need to see what you think!!! Enjoy this chapter!

xxx

Simba crossed the cave to where the rather dusty Sodona was calmly padding over to the food pile, trying to look meaningful, his amber eyes narrowed and his mouth curled in a snarl. Right beside his shoulder, Irena stepped after him, looking serious but her eyes were glittering in amusement, though of course Simba didn't see that.

"Simba?" said Sodona, turning to him. At first her ears pricked and her eyes lit up happily- but then she took a small step backwards and stared at him. "What's wrong?" Her gaze flickered to Irena. "What are you doing here?"

"Leave her alone," growled Simba, as though Sodona had just insulted the pretty leopard. "I need to talk to you. Now."

"Uh…alright," said Sodona, not taking her eyes off Irena.

"What have you been telling them about me?" he hissed, lowering his voice even more.

Sodona looked completely bewildered. "Who's them?"

"You know. Don't be stupid. Everyone."

"What've I told them?"

Irena herself was feeling confused, but this was her chance to take Simba off the annoying girl once and for all, so she tried to look like she already knew what was going on.

"About…" Simba paused suddenly, his anger briefly draining away. It occurred to him that he hadn't even asked Irena what, or more importantly _if _Sodona had even said anything about his dark secret to her. It was too late now, anyway; too late to turn back and apologise. And besides…what if he made friends with Sodona and then Irena wouldn't speak to him again? He'd enjoyed her company this afternoon, and he didn't want to lose her friendship.

He whirled round to stare at her. Looking stern and proud, she was more beautiful than ever- her eyes were sparkling sapphires and her well groomed coat sparkled with snow she'd got stuck on it from hunting before.

But he still had to make sure he wasn't making a big mistake.

"Irena- she did…she did say something about me to you, didn't she?" he growled, hoping she didn't think his anger was directed at her.

Irena paused, thinking. Was it really so wrong to tell Simba that his little friend had said things to her? He hadn't asked her if she'd said _bad _things. Sodona was always going on about the lion, to everyone. She had to stop her mouth from curling into a grin as she replied: "Oh yes, Simba. I thought you _knew _she was going about, spreading rumours and secrets about you. Almost everyone knows."

When she'd paused for a moment, Simba had panicked- _poor Sodona! Will she understand if I tell her it was a misunderstanding? _- but after Irena's answer, his anger came roaring back into him, making him snarl at his old friend. Ex-friend.

Sodona backed away in fright. If this had been anyone else but Simba, she would have fought no matter what her Uncle said, but now confusion paralysed her. What had she done wrong? She hadn't told anyone anything!

"But I haven't- I've not-" she stuttered.

"Don't lie to me, _Sodona_," retorted Simba, spitting her name in hatred. "How could you tell them all? I thought we were friends! I can't believe I was stupid enough to trust a… someone like you!"

Sodona felt her own fury rising. "Don't you dare accuse me of lying or I _will _tell everyone your so-called secret! You never trusted me! I never pressed you to tell me anything about yourself- not even why you came here- and I stuck with you through everything, but now suddenly you're growing and snapping at me? I don't even understand what you mean!"

Simba opened his jaws, half growling and half roaring, but this time Sodona didn't flinch- she growled back just as fiercely, unsheathing her sharp white claws. That was another strange thing that Simba thought- the other leopards had thorn sharp, black claws, but Sodona's were as white as the snow she lived in.

The thought barely registered with him now, though; he felt Irena tense and her tail swished against his legs, preparing herself to pounce. Sodona bared her teeth even wider, her own tail lashing from side to side. This was so unfair! She hadn't done anything wrong and she was being blamed for it. Oh, she hated Irena, she hated her so much.

Irena leaped- Sodona jumped at the same time and pushed back, rolling over as Irena tried to pin her down. Now she was on top, about to sink her teeth into the pretty leopard's shoulder, and Simba pounced on her, knocking her flying.

Sodona managed to get on her feet, though, and once again Irena jumped in before Simba could do anything else. This time Irena bit into Sodona's foreleg- Sodona screeched in pain and swiped at Irena, catching her ear and causing a nasty nick. Irena growled and released her grip- then Simba leaped forward, desperate to stop Irena being hurt.

"Stay back, Simba!" yowled Irena, slashing at Sodona; she caught the other leopard's side and caused a long gash down her side. Sodona retaliated but missed, and then jumped on top of Irena, but before she could bite down on her, Simba hit her around the head with his huge paw.

Sodona leaped back just in time, but the edge of the lion's powerful paw still hit her muzzle and knocked her head to the side. He jumped again, growling and wanting to chase her off for hurting his friend, but she was already turning and running back up to the darkest part of the cave.

Simba watched her go, uncertain if he should be happy he'd got rid of her. He should be feeling happy- but deep down, he did feel quite sad.

"Finally!" sighed Irena, sitting beside him and licking her wounds. "That girl is such an _idiot- _and so weak. Have you seen the state of her? Dusty and dirty, and so childish, hanging around the back of the caves. What does she think she is, a Night Watcher? Ha! As if. Everyone knows only the most _beautiful _leopards in the whole world get to be them."

Simba forced himself to laugh half heartedly. "Yeah…she always used to go on about them, and how her mother was one."

"Oh, I know. I have to admit, occasionally I feel sorry for her, having no mother, but then she goes and does something pathetic and all my sympathy for her vanishes. I mean, there was this one time when- oh, look what the crows dragged in."

She was glaring at Tilli and Ruben and their little group of followers, as they padded through the cave. "Irena?" growled Ruben, spotting the two of them together. "What are you doing with- _him?" _He looked her over again, taking in the slight wounds she'd got in her fight. "Have you had a fight, or something?"

"What does it look like, stupid?" snarled Irena, clearly not in the mood for the annoying leopard any more than Simba was.

"Don't talk to him like that!" growled Tilli, instantly stepping forward and lashing her tail in anger.

"I can fight my own battles, Tilli, stop treating me like I'm your cub," warned Ruben over his shoulder. Tilli growled softly but then swivelled her gaze back to her rival.

Ruben also turned his gaze away from his 'friend' but not to look at the beautiful, pale-coated Irena- instead, he glanced at Simba, most of his hostility gone.

"Where's that Sodona?" he asked, glancing around as though she might suddenly appear out of thin air. "I thought you and her were…"

"No!" Simba sprang to his paws again. "We were just friends. _Were," _he emphasised.

Ruben raised an eyebrow, flicking his head to get a tuft of black fur out of his pale blue eye. "So you and Irena are together, then?"

Irena let out a strange purring noise. "Yes, we are. Go away, Ruben, and take all your little friends with you. Me and Simba want to be alone."

Ruben curled his lip in a sneer, but still didn't rise to the bate, possibly because the lion sat down again and let Irena cuddle up to him, twining her tail with his. "Where do you think Sodona's gone?"

Tilli nudged him, glaring. "Why do you want to talk to her?"

Ruben shrugged casually, but Simba caught something flicker in his eyes. Was it… embarrassment, perhaps? "I wouldn't mind hearing her side of the story, that's all, idiot. Where is she?" he added to Simba.

Simba frowned, uncertain if Sodona would thank him for letting that gang harass her- but just as he'd decided that was what she deserved for spreading his secrets, Irena opened her eyes again and glared. "She went into the back of the cave, the weirdo. I swear she thinks she has her mother's gift."

Tilli hooted with laughter. "What a freak!"

Irena joined in her laughter aswell, and Simba started to feel even more uncomfortable. He had to almost physically stop himself tell the two leopards to stop laughing at her for just wanting some alone time- but reminding himself, again, that perhaps Tilli and Ruben knew a bit of his past, he restrained himself.

"Alright. I'll wait for her to get back and then I'll ask her. Enjoy your romantic time together," called Ruben in a stupid voice, and all of his gang laughed, Tilli the loudest. As they walked off down the corridor, Simba could overhear Tilli saying: "Can we go and get something to eat now, Ruben? I'll share with you, if you want."

Ruben growled, shaking his head. "Are you always hungry? You ate that hare while we were out hunting."

"But I'd let you eat most of it, and you could choose what we wanted," begged Tilli, and then they were out of earshot.

"They're so immature," said Irena disgustedly, rolling her eyes. "And that Tilli is just…I hate her so much. Almost as much as Sodona."

"Yeah. Almost," agreed Simba, the words hard to force out.

xxx

Sodona had stopped long before she got to Trannia's paw marks on the wall, and now she sat with her back to the main part of the cave in the dark, feeling confused and very, very upset.

She didn't understand what she'd done wrong- she hadn't said anything to anyone, especially not about Simba. And Irena! She hated her so much for completely lying about her to her friend. Why did she always have to have one up over her? She was so _mean. _Simba had always been her friend, but now, because of that stupid jealous leopard, he hated her. Had he even wanted to fight her? All she knew was she would not hurt him unless he really did try to hurt her. And then, if it came to that, she would make sure it counted.

xxx

"Irena…" Simba paused from licking her ears to ask her the something that had been bugging him. They'd long since finished their moose leg and Rijin had even come over to praise them for bringing it in and feeding all the cubs in one go.

"Yes, Simba?" She answered casually, but inside she was nervous. What could she say if he asked her exactly what Sodona had told him? Just as she was about to try and lie her way out, he replied: "Do you think we should ask Tilli and Ruben if she told them aswell? What if she only told you and not…" he broke off as she stiffened.

"Do you think I'm lying to you, Simba?" she asked quietly. "If you can't trust me, then…"

"No! I don't think you're lying. I just think that maybe, you know, we might have misunderstood. I'm not sticking up for Sodona, or anything," he added, although maybe he was. "I just think we should make sure."

Irena nodded. "Alright, then. Come on." She had to appear as though she couldn't care less- otherwise, she may aswell admit that she'd been lying.

Standing up, she stretched, arching her back and flexing her long black claws, and Simba yawned, his mouth opening wide and revealing his growing fangs. They headed off to Ruben's favourite spot- just by a large, round boulder with a black streak running through it. It wasn't too far from here, and passing it by they nodded to Bakita and Wilfur and another leopard, Mayna, who grinned at them before continuing to tuck into his snow fox.

However, when they got there, they found Tilli and a few of Ruben's group alone- no Ruben himself.

"What do you want now?" growled Tilli, looking upset and angry at the same time. The rest of the group were sharing a bit of food amongst each other and the youngest two were play fighting, but she was lying on her own and looking grouchy. Simba wondered if it had anything to do with Ruben's absence.

"We wanted to ask you and Ruben something," he announced. "But-"

"He's not here, I have _noticed_, thankyou," interrupted Tilli rudely. "So go away and find him when he gets back."

"We don't even know when he'll get back, idiot, and we need to ask you too," replied Irena angrily, leaning forward and then turning to Simba. She didn't particularly want the lion to ask Tilli this- she'd probably look at him like he was mad, and tell him she didn't have a clue what he was on about, but Irena could still win him over if she just used the right tactics.

"Alright, what is it?" snarled Tilli after a moments thought, but she didn't get up. She wasn't even in a mood to fight.

Simba took a deep breath. "Has Sodona been saying things about me to you?" he asked quickly. "She's been spreading secrets and I wondered if…?"

Tilli turned her head away to hide her confusion, but she'd already come to a decision. She hated Sodona right now and she wasn't prepared to stick up for the ugly little leopard, no matter how innocent she was.

"Oh yes. She's told me loads of things about you, Simba, me and Ruben together," she sneered. "All kinds of horrible stuff. Has she told you, Irena?" she added. "I bet she hasn't. See how I always get to know things way before you do?"

"Shut it, idiot!" snapped Irena, but her eyes sparkled with an achievement that Simba didn't notice as he stared past them both, out into the cave mouth a good few metres away. So she _had _been betraying him to the other leopards. _Why? _he thought privately. _What had he ever done to her? Why did he deserve this? He'd already suffered so much as a cub…_

Simba glanced back at them both, hearing their growling. "Where is Ruben, Tilli?" he asked out of curiosity. "I thought you did everything together?"

"Well, we _did," _she said, rolling and narrowing her eyes at the same time, "But now he's more interested in running around after other leopards. Stupid, immature ones. Go away. I want to be left alone."

She rolled over, turning her back on them and curling up in a ball.

"We'll go when we want, not when you tell us," snarled Irena, but when Tilli said nothing in return, she whirled away. "Come on, Simba. Let's go," she called when he didn't move.

He was too busy thinking about what Tilli had said. In the space of just one day all the friendship groups seemed to have split up- if someone had told him this morning that he was going to fall out with Sodona once and for all (at least it seemed like that to him) he would have laughed in their face, and no doubt his old friend would have aswell. And now Ruben and Tilli seemed to have fallen out; Simba wondered which leopard he was 'running around after.'

Shrugging the thought from his mind, he followed Irena, who'd turned away, getting impatient with waiting for him. He didn't care any more; he had Irena now, and that was what mattered to him.

So why did a tiny voice in the back of his head cry for Sodona?


	13. Switching

_**Hi!! I'm so sorry it's taken SOOO long for me to start writing again but I've had my first German GCSE and it was very scary. And it was unfair, too, because everyone else was going on about how you got a sweet after you did it, and I spent the ENTIRE exam eyeing up this chocolate finger (I love them :D) and she didn't even offer me one afterwards. ¬_¬. Hm. Anyways, here is chapter 12 of The Lion King: The Snow Lands. I don't own Simba OR the other lion king characters that will soon be in it ;P Enjoy, and please review! :D**_

_**xxx**_

_**Sodona was lying down and feeling very sorry for herself. She didn't understand why Simba, her best friend, had fallen out with her or why he was being so immature about this. She'd done nothing wrong- and then Irena had attacked her! Oh, she hated that leopard, she really did. **_

_**The darkness and quietness of the tunnel began to make her feel tired, and she had no more time or energy to worry and feel sad. She had a sudden urge to fall asleep- that was the only word to describe it, an urge. She let the darkness enclose her, gasping slightly at how tired she was. **_

_**She was asleep and dreaming, and Sodona knew she was dreaming. Coloured lights flickered in front of her gaze- bright green and splashes of blue and dawn pink, the orange of the setting sun, the piercing white of the snow. She was falling into this strange rainbow- falling and falling…**_

"_**Sodona?" someone was prodding her with a paw. Simba?!**_

_**She struggled awake, instantly forgetting her strange dreaming sensation, and blinked up at him, smiling with relief.**_

_**It wasn't Simba, though. It was Ruben, looking at her lazily. **_

_**She scowled. "What do you want?"**_

_**Ruben raised an eyebrow. "I came to find you."**_

_**Sodona waited for the taunting to begin. She really didn't need this, not right now.**_

"_**Why are you all the way up here, anyway?" Ruben prodded as she turned her head away and rolled her eyes.**_

"_**Because I want to be, alright?" she snapped. **_

_**He blinked. "I was just asking."**_

_**She felt bad suddenly. She needed all the friends she could get right now and here she was practically starting a fight with Ruben?**_

"_**I'm sorry," she apologised quickly. "But I'm not having a good day at all."**_

_**He smiled crookedly, sympathetically. "I can see that. So Simba and Irena, then?"**_

"_**Simba and Irena what?"**_

"_**They're together now, aren't they?"**_

"_**Yeah, yeah," Sodona muttered. "I have noticed, Ruben."**_

"_**Why do you care so much if you didn't fancy him in the first place?" asked Ruben nosily.**_

"_**Because he was my friend, and now Irena will NEVER let him near me again."**_

"_**So you don't have any other friends apart from Simba?" he sniggered, and Sodona shot him a cold glance, but then she noticed with a short jolt that there was warmth and not nastiness in his own gaze. **_

"_**You and …Tilli made sure of that, didn't you? I do, just not as many as you and the others had. It didn't matter when I was a cub- there was lots of other cubs to play with- but now it seems like everyone's splitting into groups and I'm just alone. It was fine me and Simba. She had to come along and ruin everything."**_

_**Ruben paused and then nudged her. "Have you eaten anything today, Sodona?"**_

_**She shook her head. "No. I'm not hungry."**_

_**He paused again. "You need to eat."**_

"_**Only when I'm hungry. Which I'm not."**_

"_**But you'll get thin."**_

"_**I won't. If I'm not hungry I don't need to eat. So I won't."**_

_**He paused, longer this time.**_

"_**Well, I'm **_**getting something."**

**He whirled away and bounded off, back to the main part of the cave, leaving Sodona alone again with her thoughts, which were now very confused. Ruben? Being nice to her and not making fun of her? Everything had changed so quickly! Simba and Irena together. Irena, Irena. It was all her fault. All of this. Although, at the minute she wasn't feeling particularly happy with Simba either, or the way he'd left her in a second's decision the minute Irena had fluttered her stupid eyelashes at him.**

**She lay down again, curling up tighter. It was getting late now, and the air in the caves was getting even colder, but there was no way she could face those two. Imagine what they'd think if she turned up alone whilst they were curled up grooming each other. The whispers and laughs and the dirty looks…**

**She let out a small whimper and rolled over. She wished she could sleep again, even if she experienced that strange sensation again. Before, it was like sleep had wanted her- now it didn't care about her, and she couldn't drift off no matter how hard she tried.**

"**You're sleeping, again? What have you been doing today?" Ruben exclaimed, making her jump.**

"**You're back?"**

**He nodded, and pushed something towards her. Blinking, she sniffed it and realised it was a snow hare- he'd brought it all the way up here for her to eat.**

"**Is it for me?" she asked, pawing it. Maybe she was hungry after all.**

"**Well, I didn't drag it all the way up here for me. I've already eaten today anyway. I'm not that hungry."**

**Sodona bit into its flank and chewed gratefully. It tasted faintly of Ruben and it was delicious. She'd spent practically all day up in these caves and forgotten everything else, including her own basic needs. **

**Ruben watched her, his tail swishing with some unreadable emotion. It began to unnerve her, and she sank her teeth into the hare's hind leg and ripped it off, throwing it towards him.**

"**I told you, Sodona, I'm not-"**

"**I can't eat it all myself, Ruben. Please just enjoy it." She was lying, she could eat five hares on the go, but she didn't want him watching her like that any more. It was too creepy- but in a funny, friendly way, instead of the eerie, scary way it should have been. **

**He shrugged, not needing any more encouragement than that, and quickly crunched it up and licked his lips, washing his face while Sodona finished the hair.**

"**I knew you were hungry really," he grinned. She smiled back and rolled over underneath him, pushing him over.**

"**Hey!' he scrambled back up and batted at her playfully, but both of them were two tired to really play fight, and they quickly settled back down.**

"**Why aren't you with Tilli?" asked Sodona curiously, when the thought struck her.**

**He shrugged. "She's so annoying. She just tries to suck up to me all the time when I don't even like her that much. She's just… stupid. And weird."**

**Sodona looked at him with her head cocked on one side. He seemed like he wanted to say more but he couldn't find the words to say them.**

**He hesitated. "Besides, Tilli's not my type of leopard at all," he added. "She's too broad shouldered for me. I like petite girls."**

**Sodona raised her eyebrows. "It's what someone's like on the inside, Ruben, not what they look like."**

"**Well, she's horrible too. Is that better?" he didn't really sound cross.**

**She grinned. "True. She really is. So do you think Irena's more petite than her?"**

**He shrugged. "I like Irena a lot. But not…" he trailed off and averted his gaze.**

**Sodona swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling dry. Surely he didn't mean-?**

"**Go on," she forced herself to say.**

**He shifted uncomfortably. "Not as much as I like you. Not quite."**

**Sodona blinked. "Oh."**

**An awkward silence stretched between them. This had happened too fast- and didn't she like Simba? Didn't she?**

**No. She didn't. He was a liar and he would rather stick with stupid Irena than her.**

**But Ruben liked her (Ruben!). He would be her best friend, maybe more, eventually, and when she was ready. **

"**But what will Tilli say when she finds out we're friends?" asked Sodona. She hated Tilli almost as much as she hated Irena, but she still didn't want to really make her upset.**

"**Who cares what **_**she **_**thinks?" snorted Ruben. "I don't like her, you don't like her. Ignore her. And if she's mean to you-" he nudged her with his nose comfortingly- "I'll give her a few claw marks to remember."**

**Sodona smiled at him and he grinned back, his eyes sparkling and the black tuft of fur in between his ears looking like the shadow from a flame. He was quite handsome- as handsome as Simba, perhaps. She felt something remarkably like happiness begin to stir inside her chest. **

"**It's too cold to sleep up here," she announced, getting to her paws and stretching. "Shall we go back to the main part of the cave and sleep there, instead?"**

"**Wherever you're most happy," Ruben replied, following her and swishing his tail again. "Come on. I'm really tired and it's a long walk back down here."**

**xxx**

**Simba and Irena were dozing off to sleep when they heard paw steps padding past them, and laughing and chatting.**

**Irena stirred, annoyed. "Go and tell them to shut up, Simba," she muttered, opening and then closing one pretty blue eye again.**

"**Alright, alright," he grumbled, yawning, and turned to whoever it was with a grin, which abruptly faded after he saw who it was.**

**Sodona- and Ruben! They were walking close together, their tales twining, laughing at some private joke. Without realising what he was doing, Simba leapt to his paws.**

"**What are you doing?" he demanded, the words harsher than he had intended from his surprise.**

**Ruben raised an eyebrow cockily and untwined his tail from Sodona's, stepping forward. "Get lost, freak. Leave Sodona alone. She doesn't like you any more."**

**Simba blinked and growled, then whirled to Sodona, confusion filling his amber eyes. How could she…oh, he didn't care any more, and Irena was already moaning at him about something without raising her head or even opening her eyes. He had her now.**

**With a gruff snarl, he whipped around yet again and collapsed next to her.**

"**Come on, Ruben," said Sodona loudly, and began to pad off again, faster this time.**

"**Wait!" he called, jumping after her. **

**After a few moments Irena raised her head and looked at him, snuggling into him. "Who was it?" she asked nosily.**

**Simba shook his head and kept his eyes closed, because he was afraid of what they would betray to Irena if he opened them.**


End file.
